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┌────────┐
────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Ian William Craig
Title | Centres
Genre | Ambient Format | Album
Source | CDDA Time | 71:48
Label | 130701 Store | 2016
Catalog | CD13-22 Rip | 2016
Bitrate | 228 kbps Size | 124.54 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | Lame 3.98.4
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. Contain (Astoria Version) 10:05
02. A Single Hope 6:26
03. Drifting To Void On All Sides 4:14
04. The Nearness 7:45
05. Set To Lapse 2:47
06. Power Colour Spirit Animal 6:28
07. Arrive, Arrive 2:39
08. A Circle Without Having To Curve 9:52
09. An Ocean Only You Could See 6:02
10. Purpose (Is No Country) 3:18
11. It Need Not To Be Hopeless 4:21
12. Innermost 3:28
13. Contain (Cedar Version) 4:23
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Canadian artist Ian William Craig creates haunting, otherworldly
compositions that blend operatic vocals and neo-classical melodies with
lo-fi production techniques more common to underground noise and
experimental music. Utilizing analog synthesizer drones, piano
improvisations, and his own stunning vocals, Craig creates his music from
decaying loops played on damaged reel-to-reel tape decks. Evoking faded
memories and feelings of loss and heartbreak, his emotionally charged works
are utterly unique and inventive. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Craig was
classically trained as a vocalist. He first became known as a printmaker,
and worked for the fine arts department at the University of British
Columbia. He began performing in 2010, and started digitally self-releasing
his recordings in 2012.
After two well-received albums on Sean McCann's Recital label, Craig moved
up to FatCat Records' neo-classical imprint 130701 for the release of his
most ambitious statement to date, "Centres". As with his previous
recordings, Craig employs obsolete, faulty tape machines, layering his
operatic vocals in decaying static. Centres is significantly more polished,
with some clearer sonic elements and a few compositions that push closer to
traditional song structures (especially 'A Single Hope', which even
features drums), but it's still as otherworldly as his previous works.
Basically, the increased production budget makes everything sound more.
It's smoother and more accessible in some ways, yet it's also more abrasive
and intense. The sounds are fuller and more haunting, with tape hiss
layered so heavily that it often approximates torrential rainstorms.
He begins "The Nearness" with a light accordion drone and singing,
eventually building up thick, noisy distortion clouds before drifting back
to the sounds of the accordion sputtering away off of a tape recorder on
its last legs. "Power Colour Spirit Animal" opens with the sound of a
heavily throbbing machine that sounds like it's giving off sparks and about
to conk out, and this transforms into a lovely wash of bright yet
diseased-sounding synths. Eventually this gets doused in sizzling static,
and waves of vocals emerge from underneath. "Innermost" features faint
vocals struggling to speak out from under the skipping tape loops and organ
drone. Some songs consist entirely of Craig's multi-tracked vocals, either
floating in effects as on the breathtaking "Set to Lapse" or more
straightforward as on the graceful hymn "Purpose (Is No Country)".
"A Circle Without Having To Curve" (one of two ten-minute tracks on the
album) might be Craig's darkest composition to date, evoking imagery of a
city ravaged by a hurricane through chilling vocal drones and swarms of
Fennesz-esque processing, and eventually meeting a sudden end. The album
ends with a stripped-back acoustic guitar version of opening piece
"Contain", captured by a wire recorder so it sounds sepia-toned but not
hissy or blurry. Taking Craig's already distinctive, powerful sound to
extremes, "Centres" is another truly remarkable work.
┌────────┐
────┤ Group ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Salute NuHS